MIB asks BARC India to stop ratings of TV channels using landing page

The ministry terms usage of landing channel as violation of the provisions of the extant interconnection regulations of TRAI

The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has asked BARC India to immediately stop generating ratings of television channels that use landing slots to gain high viewership through high sampling and reach for their channels.

In a letter to the BARC, a copy of which is with BestMediaInfo.com, the ministry termed the use of landing channels as violation of the provisions of extant interconnection regulations of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). It directed the body to stop generating ratings of channels that do not adhere to TRAI regulations.

It may be noted that BARC India always maintained that it could not detect the violating channels because it uses watermarking technology to register viewership irrespective of the number of feeds being used by the broadcaster. When BestMediaInfo.com asked BARC India CEO Partho Dasgupta how it would detect and stop the ratings following the ministryâ€™s order, he refused to comment.

But it is evident that BARC India will be able to act against any channel only if it is asked to do so specifically by TRAI or MIB.